Driving 101: Saving Lives One Driver at a Time

Educating drivers, especially those on the younger end, is crucial to keeping our community and world safe. There are so many people who do not understand the importance of knowing all the rules that come with driving, nor do they understand the importance of just being an overall safe driver. As a frequent driver myself, I have witnessed many almost-accidents and actual accidents on the roads, all of which could have been easily prevented if those drivers would have followed the simple rules of driving that they teach you in drivers education. Whether it was something small, such as not coming to a complete stop at a four-way stop, or something bigger, like going 30 miles per hour over the speed limit on a crowded road, one simple broken rule could lead to fatal consequences.

One step that could prevent many accidents, most people overlook and do not think too much about. That step is drivers education. This course is typically taken right before one gets their license, and is most often teenagers. People often see this crucial step as something that they just have to do, and go through the motions while taking it. However, I believe that it is the most crucial step in a driver’s journey. It is the first building block in a driver’s future, and aside from experience, drivers are taught most, if not all they need to know about how to be a safe and responsible driver. There are two ways that people are able to take this course: in-person, or online. As someone who took drivers ed in person, I would say that it was the most critical step in my journey to becoming a safe and successful driver. I learned so much and would definitely not be the driver I am today without it. However, the many people that I have spoken to that took the class online would not say the same. Due to its convenience, people who took drivers ed online are much more common than people who took it in-person. Almost, if not all of the people who took the online class that I’ve talked to told me that they felt like they learned nothing, and know most of the rules of driving from their experience on the roads. Since there are so many rules of the road, it is almost impossible for these people to learn them all. As you can imagine, this has the potential to cause many problems and accidents. It is highly unlikely that these people will ever learn if they don’t learn when they first start driving.

While I have never been involved in an accident myself, my dad has. When I was in second grade, my dad had gone out of town to Corpus Christi on a business trip, which was not uncommon for the job that he had. That day, my uncle came to my school and picked me up, saying that I was leaving to go surprise my cousin. I was a little confused, but being a second grader, I didn’t really think too much of it. I spent the rest of the day at their house, wondering when my mom would be there to pick me up. That night after dinner, my aunt told me that my mom wanted to Facetime me. I took her phone and answered the call from my mom. She told me that my dad was in a bad car accident, but he’s ok. I was told that he just had a couple of bumps and bruises, but he’s in the hospital and she had to stay there with him. I was stunned and speechless. I knew that things like this happened to people, but I never thought it would happen to me. I later found out that he was t-boned on the driver’s side by an 18-wheeler. The driver was intoxicated and had fallen asleep at the wheel. My dad’s F250 flew and flipped twice in the air before landing in a plot of land just to the side of the road. He was then life-flighted to the nearest hospital, where the doctors announced that he wasn’t going to make it. My mom received a call while she was at work that she needed to come over to the hospital to identify his body. On her way there, he had flat-lined, but by the grace of God, was successfully resuscitated. His pelvis was broken in 6 places, all of his ribs were broken, had a punctured lung, and had sustained many other threatening injuries from the accident. We were told that he may never be able to walk again, which was extremely difficult for me and my family. My dad stayed in that hospital for two months before he was finally able to come back to Houston, where he stayed in a rehab center for an additional month. Being apart from my dad and mom that long was extremely difficult, and I don’t wish that experience upon anyone. With lots of hard work and help from the doctors, my dad regained the ability to walk. Though he healed remarkably well, he still feels pain today doing everyday tasks as a result of the accident. Because of this experience, I truly understand the importance of never driving intoxicated, for both myself and others.

I believe that the best way to grow in something is to take and apply constructive criticism. It is often hard to be told that you’re doing something wrong, and most of the time we don’t want to listen to others’ unsolicited advice. A way that I can be a better, and safer driver is to take constructive criticism from anyone in the car with me, and apply it to my driving. I need to realize that people aren’t saying these things to hurt my feelings, they are saying them because they want me to be safe. On the flipside, I can help others be safer on the roads by politely, and lovingly giving them constructive criticism, and never letting someone drive while intoxicated. I’ll let them know that I’m not saying they’re bad drivers, I just want them to be safe.